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American Humane devotes division to human-animal bond

The American Humane Association has formed a Human-Animal Bond Division to complement and provide a bridge between its existing Animal Protection Division and Children's Division.

The association also announced plans to convene a national summit on the human-animal bond and to explore formation of a coalition on animal-assisted therapy with other organizations.

The Human-Animal Bond Division will highlight American Humane's Pets and Women's Shelters Program, which encourages shelters for victims of domestic violence to provide on-site housing for the victims' pets, along with the association's programs in areas such as animal-assisted therapy and humane education.

The new division's array of activities will include the following:

Providing animal-assisted therapy teams

Educating health professionals on the use of therapy animals

Developing new curricula for humane education in classrooms

Creating a traveling exhibit to supplement classroom humane education

Continuing exploration of the link between violence against people and violence against animals

American Humane also has joined with the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work to establish the American Humane Endowed Chair, which will explore the field of animal-assisted social work Earlier, American Humane had provided some of the seed money to establish the university's Institute for Human-Animal Connection.